.Welcome to the Main Event

Mega- FLU – Mania.

Since the only topic in the office is…

#1 The weather or

#2 The Flu

We can’t change the weather, so let’s go with talking about the flu and what it means to be healthy. Whether you get the flu shot or not is really up to you. But, every year for as long as I have been writing about the flu shot it has been a dismal failure. Meaning it doesn’t prevent any more flu than any other year.

Need more info?

If you still want more info on vaccines, just go to www.mercola.com. There is a new article that may shock you. Talking about people who get the seasonal flu shot are TWICE as likely to get the swine flu. If you get my emails, you had the chance to see Dr. OZ on national T.V. saying that he WON’T vaccinate his kids or wife for H1N1. The risks of being in a GIANT social experiment are too great.

Sick people will die of the flu, no matter what you do. Why?

The flu is not the danger, it is your immune system that determines whether you get sick or not. Every day you get exposed to millions of germs. Sure, taking precautions will help, but the ultimate decision lies within you. How strong are you? If you are sick for weeks on end, you aren’t very strong.

Here is an outline of what I consider strength.

against the flu and other nasties in life:

#1 Stress... unmanaged, it will beat you down like nothing else. We all have stress, but how you handle it makes all the difference. When you are feeling like life is bigger than you, it is time to step back and read something inspirational. Start a simple morning mediation to let your brain relax and work on problems. Find a quiet place for 5 minutes and listen to NOTHING but the sound of your breathing and let your mind wander.

And for heavens sake…the more you worry about getting the flu…the more likely you are to get it.

#2 Adrenal health…these little dynamos are heavily responsible for your front line immune system that keeps those little viruses at bay. Problems is they are also responsible for your energy and response to stress.

If you are tired a lot and especially if you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, take heed, your adrenals are in trouble.

• Immediately start prioritizing life and only do the 3 most important things for that day.

• Take a vacation-doesn’t have to be exotic.

• Stop working so hard. No one wishes on their deathbed that they would have worked harder.

• Eat less sugar, more protein, and Celtic Sea Salt.

• Astragalus Complex from Mediherb helps with stress and the adrenals.

Side note…a hyperactive nervous system often contributes to a person’s ability to handle stress. I am a living example. When I started getting adjusted, I could handle amazing amounts of stress, where prior to that I no ability. Ask me in the office for the full story. The health of the nervous system is king, and a chiropractic adjustment helps the nervous system better than anything else.

#3 Sleep...The holy grail of health. Your body heals while it sleeps. Do everything you can to get a good night’s sleep.

• Get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night.  Why?  They have done longevity studies, and those were the ideal amounts of sleep.  So sleeping too much can be detrimental as well.

   

• Sleeping recharges the immune system.  I can speak personally on this.  Some of you may remember emails from last year on my sore throat.  I almost never ever get sick.   When I feel any type of illness, it is almost always because of having too many irons in the fire (stress) and not sleeping multiple nights in a row.

   

• “Warm hands and feet induce sleep quickly”-Mayo sleep clinic

   

• Get up at the same time everyday.  This is probably the most important aspect of regular sleep.  If you are not sleeping well, this would be a great place to start.  You should not need an alarm clock.  If you need an alarm clock and you are not working shifts, you have sleep problems, lifestyle problems, or adrenal gland problems.  Once again, I’ve been on that path, and I know when I don’t wake up easily I need to slow life down.

   

• Go to bed at the same time

   

• The room should be quiet and dark, the  darker the better.

   

• No caffeine within 6 hours of going to bed

  No alcohol before bed

  No exercise before bed

  No naps over 20 minutes

   

• Don’t face the alarm clock out if you tend to wake in the middle of the night.  You will stress about the time and fret about not sleeping.  Don’t watch the clock at all.  Just lay back down and start counting backwards from 100-1.

#4 Sugar…this has so many implication for bad health, I could fill the whole newsletter just on sugar. Just remember that sugar wrecks the immune system.

#5 Exercise…get some at least 3 times per week. The benefits for your body are infinite. A simple fact: exercise helps burn and use sugar, so exercise will help your immune system.

Which is more disgusting? A stagnant backwater bug-filled pond or a swiftly flowing river? Exercise keeps the fluids of your body moving.

#6 Negativity Kills

This topic is very important. I see patients struggling with, living with, or spending time with, someone who has nothing positive to say.  I call them “energy suckers”  You feel drained and lifeless after spending time with them.  They are the opposite of the energy givers.   An energy giver will give you energy and make you feel better after spending time with them.  One of the most positive experiences I have ever had was sitting in a room of 10,000 high-energy, positive chiropractors.  For your long term health, start eliminating energy draining people. 

Our friends should be companions who inspire us, who help us rise to our best.

-Joseph B. Wirthlin

#7 Lack of vitamins…All food is not created equally. For more than 100 years, food has been stripped of vital nutrients.

This is from the foreword of “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration”-by Dr. Weston Price, and I think it sums up today’s problems.  “Food–fresh from fertile soil or the sea–has been replaced, for the most part, by refined, processed and preserved produce of far different nutritional qualities….Against his better judgment, the modern farmer has been forced to use monoculture, artificial fertilization, pesticides, herbicides…production for ‘quantity’ rather than ‘quality’.“  -Granville Knight M.D. (1970)

Our food supply is much worse for quality today.  With processing and preserving foods for shipment all over the world, it is no wonder that people are literally starving for vitamins. 

My Winter Program

The hype about the flu this year is very impressive.  Last year I never got sick, and I don’t plan to again this year.  This is how I do it with 5 simple steps.

1. Chiropractic Adjustment - the most influential thing on your immune system isn’t a shot, it’s your nervous system.  If your nerves are not functioning at 100%, your immune system can’t function at 100%.  If the spine is misaligned,  it only takes a little pressure (~approx. the weight of a quarter) to shut a nerve down 60%.  Just think if you did your job only 60% of the time, or only ate 60% of the time, or only filled your car 60% full.   I used adjustments exclusively for years with great success.

    

2. Immuplex - Standard Process’s long-term supplement that feeds the immune system with the vitamins and minerals it needs.

    

3. Probiotics - Those good bacteria that make your intestines hum along.  Second to the nervous system, your intestines are the next biggest contributor to the immune system.  Good bacteria = good health.  The probiotics we use have been tested through our office to be the most effective ones we’ve used in 11 years.  The good bacteria take a beating with antibiotics and processed food.  Most people need some. My whole family takes these, even our 5 year old.

    

4. Cod Liver Oil - Besides an adjustment this is one of the most important things I take all winter long.  The Vitamin A is critical for a powerful immune system. 

    

5. Astragalus Complex - This is a powerful combination of Astragalus root, Echinacea, and Eleuthro.  It is made by Mediherb, so the potency is stronger than anything else you can buy.  This trio helps the general immune system, promotes feelings of well being, and helps the body cope with stress.  Stress will crash your immune system faster than anything.

There are 5 very potent immune-enhancing ideas. A strong immune system is key to ignoring the crazy hype over the flu.  You WILL be exposed to the flu, no matter how careful you are not to shake peoples’ hands.  The only thing that determines if you get sick or not is the power of your immune system.

This is shaping up to be a nasty year for colds and flus. It has already started.

Normally this time of year I’m thinking about how to promote football and chiropractic. The closest I’ve come, is the fact that all the NFL teams have a team chiropractor except Oakland.

The best athletic teams use chiropractic for 2 key reasons. Chiropractic decreases injuries and enhances performance. Great joints just work better.

B ut this year, I can hear the coughing from anywhere in the office. The sneezing has already blown a disc for a patient. We have run out of kleenex’s wiping little kids’ noses. It’s not a pretty picture.

If you need any furniture sanded, my hands

can help from all the washing.

Kids in school, people in church, husbands, wives, dogs, cats, and random deer are coughing in the woods. Everybody seems to be sick. People I haven’t seen in 3 months are coming in sick, and they know they can get better by getting adjusted.

One of our tricks in school was to get adjusted 3-4 times a day. I was always better the next day. The upper part of the neck controls all the parts of the immune system. High stress in your body increases dysfunction quickly. That’s why 3-4 visits/ day works.

So, for the first time ever, I am offering our cold and flu program in October. You pay for the first visit, and the rest of the visits for the day are free. We have already had a 9 y.o. girl come in 3 times a day, and was much better by the 3^rd visit. More stories are hanging on the wall.

You need good nutrition to heal and be healthy, along with some good sleep. Your adrenal glands need those things too. If you are constantly tired and can’t get out of bed in the morning, Cha-Ching…you are whipping your adrenal glands like a race horse and they are giving up before the finish line.

Guess what else? Your adrenal glands also control your immune system in your nose, your mouth and your lungs. This is why lots of stress and the go…go…go… attitude can drive you to being sick often.

I first started thinking about long term patient health 6 years ago when I started reading Bruce West’s newsletter. He made a profound statement.

He said it is much harder to help people get well today than it was 20 +years ago when he started in chiropractic. After 8 years, I would have to agree. What used to take 6 visits now takes 16 for people to get better. People have fewer resources to heal.

Start Making A Switch AND…

While you’re At It,

Help Someone Along The Way.

Our acceptance and tolerance of bad, cheap, non-nutritious food won’t change unless we educate ourselves and our loved ones.

Back to being sick. I know where it comes from and I know I need your help to educate others.

My wife was on a school field trip as a chaperone. I am extremely nervous for the health and well-being of our youngsters. One kid, for his lunch, had a WHOLE can of Pringles chips. Those babies are loaded with partially hydrogenated fat and other nasties. If you have kids in school, a book you should read is The Crazy Makers.

Ramp up your immune system everyday.

A bonus for those of you who are getting some cod liver oil everyday: It’s an excellent source of vitamin A.

A summary of 2004 research on Vitamin A

(If you want the full references just ask)

Vitamin A benefits:

1.Improved hormone patterns in girls

2.Enhance immune function

3.Protect against cancer

4.Modulates inflammation

5.Vit. A&D decreased cell number of pancreatic cancer cell lines.

6.Protects against chemicals and pesticides (this is one of my favorites, everyone needs this)

7.Lack of Vit. A screws up the lining of the small intestine.

8

.Improves iodine efficacy in kids. A healthy thyroid is critical for healthy nerve functions.

This is also another reason to eat butter instead of margarine. Butter is a natural source of vitamin A. Margarine is made from laboratory chemicals. No matter what your doctor says or what the label says

Do Not Under Any Circumstance

Voluntarily eat margarine